Antonius Hulsius Anton Hüls | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1615 |
| Died | 27 February 1685(1685-02-27) (aged 69–70)[1] ( Gregorian) |
| Occupation(s) | Philologist Calvinist theologian Hebraist |
| Spouse | Agnes Elisabeth Rumpf |
| Children | 10 of whom 4 – all of them sons – survived to adulthood. |
Antonius Hulsius (Anton Hüls: 1615 – 27 February 1685) was aGermanphilologist andCalvinist theologian.[1][2][3][4]
Hulsius was born towards the end of 1615 atHilden, a midsized manufacturing town in the hill-country east of Düsseldorf, at a time whenLutheran Protestantism had recently been supplanted byCalvinist Protestantism as the mainstream religion of the townsfolk, while the local lord was still adhering to theCatholicism of his forefathers. It was a period of intense religious conflict in theRhineland, and the life of Antonius Hulsius would be deeply impacted by theThirty Years' War (1618–1648). His father, also called Antonius Hulsius, was the local mayor. His mother, born Catharina von Venne, died in 1628 when the boy was just 13, after which he went to live with his elder brother, the young theologian-pasterWilhelmus Hülsius (Wilhelm Hüls: 1598–1659) atWesel, some distance to the north. He attended the"Gymnasium" (secondary school) in Wesel where he received a solid academic grounding.[1][3]
He moved on in 1635 to the"gymnasium illustre" academy atDeventer, then under the direction of Nikolaus Vedelius (1596–1642). His studies atDeventer focused onHebrew andTheology.[2] By 1636 thewar had been underway for eighteen years, and the movements of large armies correlated with an increased frequency and intensity ofplague. Deventer was badly affected in that year.[5] Hulsius fled, travelling over the next couple of years toParis,London andCambridge. Everywhere he went, he found opportunities for further study. According to at least one source he also spent time inOxford where he mastered English.[2] In or before 1638 Hulsius travelled toGeneva, whereCalvinism was still particularly firmly entrenched. He studied at the"académie de Genève" (as the university was known at that time), while lodging withFriedrich Spanheim (1600–1649), who had been the rector at the académie between 1633 and 1637, and already enjoyed a powerful reputation as an uncompromising advocate of "orthodox calvinism".[2][6] Hulsius remained inGeneva for approximately two years, during which, there are references to his having delivered his first sermons at the local German language church.[2][3]
Hulsius returned tothe Netherlands during or shortly before 1640, and spent several years working atLeiden,Amsterdam andGroningen, having become in 1640 a backer of the so-called "Walloon church", which was a Protestant-Calvinist community, comprising mainlyHuguenots and other Protestants who had moved from France and Catholic southern Flanders tothe Netherlands, attracted by the Dutch reputation forreligious tolerance.[2] After a period based in Amsterdam he became minister to the francophone community inBreda, participating with particular devotion in the construction of their church building. In 1644 the still recently formed congregation to elected Hulsius minister. He would exercise his ministry at Breda for the next 25 years.[1][3][4]
He also took a teaching position at the newly openedBreda "gymnasium illustre" (as it was identified at the time) academy, and began teachingHebrew there, probably in 1646.[4] He was evidently well established as a staff member at the institution in 1648, when he witnessed the will of the academy's "curator residens",André Rivet.[4]
In 1650, while at Breda, Hulsius had his Hebrew-Latin bible, "Nomenclator biblicus hebraeo-latinus" produced. It was his first significant published work.[7] A succession of further publications relating toTheology quickly followed.[8][9][10][11]
Hulsius was a participant atthe church's Synods atHaarlem in April 1660,Middelburg in May 1666 andNaarden in September 1668. In his dealings with representatives of other denominations, he became ever more trenchant in his promotion of theCalvinist orthodoxy associated with what has become known as theDutch Reformed Church. His robust championing of the "orthodox" wing of his church was on display, in particular, in his sustained attacks on the heterodoxmysticistpietism ofJean de Labadie.[2]
On 21 July 1668Friedrich Spanheim (1632–1701), whom Hulsius must have known as a boy when he lodged in Geneva withFriedrich Spanheim (1600–1649), the child's father, during the 1930s, had Hulsius appointed "Regent of the Flemish College" atLeiden University. Here the duties assigned to Hulsius involved educating and looking after young men destined for the (Calvinist) Christian ministry. He taughtTheology and attended to any behavioural issues arising. A parallel appointment followed a few weeks later when he was appointed to an assistant professorship inHebrew on 23 August. The administrators at the Flemish College took the opportunity to reduce his salary from 1,400Florins to 1,200 Florins, having regard to his 400 Florin salary as a university assistant professor.[3][4]
On 16 January 1676 he accepted a full "ordinary" professorship atthe university inTheology andHebrew. He applied himself to his new duties with energy and zeal, and was rewarded with considerable success. Nevertheless, as the intellectual currents in Protestant Theology departments moved on during the second half of the seventeenth century, he also became the target of intensifying criticism and satire from those who did not share his uncompromising religious approach.[1][2][3] His final years were marked – and in the eyes of some "less conservative" commentators his reputation was scarred – by high-profile disputes against thecovenanter fromFraneker,Johannes Cocceius and theCartesian controversialist,Abraham Heidanus.[3][4][12]
More than three centuries later, there is widespread respect and appreciation among scholars for his contributions to the study ofGreek andHebrew. He also was a professor atLeyden University, where he took a share in university and faculty administration. He served as Dean of the Theology Faculty in 1680, and asRector if the University Senate between 1683 and 1684.[2]
Sources differ as to the precise date of his death, but there is agreement that Antonius Hulsius died during February 1685.[1][2][3][4] His funeral oration was delivered byFriedrich Spanheim.[3]
Antonius Hulsius married Agnes Elisabeth Rumpf atthe Hague in January 1945. The bride was the youngest of the seven children born to the physician Christian Rumpf (1580–1645) by his marriage to Agneta de Spina (1590–1649).[13] The marriage was followed by the births of ten children, of whom at least eight lived long enough to be baptised atBreda.[14] The daughters all died young, but four of the sons survived to adulthood. These all became theologians and/or church ministers.
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